No Case Of Coronavirus Reported In India, 12,828 Passengers Screened So Far: Govt

Ministry of External Affairs has also been requested to disseminate travel advisory (in local languages) to Indian Embassies in China and adjoining countries for wider circulation and passenger information.

Passengers wear masks to protect against the spread of the Coronavirus as they arrive at the Los Angeles International Airport, California, on January 22, 2020. - A new virus that has killed nine people, infected hundreds and has already reached the US could mutate and spread, China warned on January 22, as authorities urged people to steer clear of Wuhan, the city at the heart of the outbreak. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)

New Delhi: The mysterious Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has claimed over 17 lives in China while another 520 have reportedly taken sick. The deadly outbreak in the country’s Wuhan district has forced authorities to take stricter measures to contain the virus epidemic. Those who test positive for the deadly virus will then be treated in isolation wards at the city’s hospitals. Many countries have issued advisories and have asked travelers to avoid visiting the region. India’s MEA spokesperson Raveev Kumar on Thursday said an advisory has been issued by Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and our consulates in China. “People coming from China will have to go through screening process (at airports).” The Union Health Ministry has confirmed that not a single case of novel coronavirus has been detected in the country. “ So far, 12,828 passengers from 60 flights have been screened.” Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has taken following actions on this issue of NCoV:

• Secretary (H) is regularly reviewing the evolving scenario and the preparedness status.
• Secretary (H) has also written to the States/UTs to review their preparedness, identify gaps and strengthen core capacities in the area of surveillance, laboratory support infection prevention & control, logistics, risk communication and in particular, hospital preparedness in terms of isolation and ventilator management of critically ill patients of SARI.
• Thermal screening is being done at the International airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin. MoCA has asked airlines to follow International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines for managing and notifying anybody reporting illness on flights originating from China and disembarking in India. MoCA has instructed for in-flight announcements for India bound flights.
• A travel advisory has been issued on 17th January and put up on Ministry’s website and also on the Twitter handle for wider circulation.
• Port and Airport Health Organizations have been sensitized and thermal screening has been initiated at the international airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin airports. The Airport Health Organizations at the airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin have put up signages at prominent locations informing the public about self-reporting of illness. Immigration officers manning the counters have been sensitized at these airports. MoHFW has written to State Governments of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and Karnataka to review and strengthen preparedness measures at designated airports for provision of isolation and critical care facilities, linkages with VRDL network laboratories and adherence to infection prevention and control guidelines.
• Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme has issued advisory to all States/UTs for SARI surveillance to pick up any travel related case reported in the community and follow up contacts of suspect/confirmed cases.
• National Institute of Virology, Pune is fully geared up to test samples of nCoV. Ten other laboratories under Indian Council of Medical Research’s Viral Research and Diagnostics Laboratories network are also equipped to test such samples, if a need arises.
• Adequate stock of Personal Protection Equipment is being maintained by Medical Stores Organization.
• Rapid response teams of the States/UTs have been trained in management of MERS-CoV outbreak (a similarly placed virus, reported from Middle East) in the year 2014. More recently these Rapid Response Teams of all States/UTs, APHO/PHOs and Regional Directors of this Ministry have also been trained (in Nov.-Dec., 2019) on management of high risk pathogens in context of Ebola virus disease outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Ministry of External Affairs has also been requested to disseminate travel advisory (in local languages) to Indian Embassies in China and adjoining countries for wider circulation and passenger information. In view of significant population of Indian students in China, MEA has been requested to provide details of such students.
• Ministry of Home Affairs has been requested to share details of travelers from China who have been issued e-Visa since 31st December, 2019.
• The situation is being closely monitored by the top officials of the Ministry in close coordination with other concerned Ministries & Departments and States/UTs.

What is coronavirus?

Coronavirus is transmitted through the air. A coronavirus causes an infection in the nose, sinuses, or upper throat and spreads through infected people coughing and sneezing, by coming in contact with an infected person's hands or face, or by touching things such as flush handles, doorknobs, escalator handles that infected people have touched. Some reports say snakes may be the original source of the newly discovered novel coronavirus. The finding, published in the Journal of Medical Virology, said that patients who became infected with the virus were exposed to wildlife animals at a wholesale market, where seafood, poultry, snake, bats, and farm animals were sold. Some reports say that snakes were sold in the local seafood market in Wuhan. The snakes may have contracted the disease from the bats, which they hunt, and then to humans leading to the outbreak.